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Vegas doesn't have Pacquiao-Margarito, but it does have the odds

The head of the largest sports book in Las Vegas is feeling a bit lonely this weekend.

"Not having the fight here slows us down," said Jay Rood, director of the MGM Resorts book.

In an entertaining read Friday, Times columnist Bill Dwyre explained why Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito for the WBC junior-middleweight title (albeit at a catch weight of 150 pounds, which is four pounds lighter than the division's actual weight limit) should be fought not in Arlington, Texas, but in Nevada.

Las Vegas always finds a way to chime in on sporting activities, however, and its big odds board on Friday lists Pacquiao as a 5-to-1 favorite, down slightly from his earlier 6-to-1 standing.

Odds are Pacquiao will end the fight before the end of the 10th round.

He's a minus-230 favorite to knock out Margarito, and the proposition bet that the bout won't last 10 full rounds is a minus-180 (nearly 2-to-1) favorite. A Pacquiao victory by decision is a 7-to-5 bet.

Margarito is the bigger man, however, and if he can produce a winning fight plan to impose his size advantage, bettors can get 8-to-1 odds that he'll win a decision and 7-to-2 odds that he'll win by KO.

The fighters will weigh in later around 3 p.m. Friday, and The Times will have full coverage at latimes.com/sports, and at Twitter.com/latimespugmire.

During the fight, we'll post round-by-round updates on the Fabulous Forum, and have a recap Saturday night on latimes.com/sports.

-- Lance Pugmire in Arlington, Texas

Photo: A general view of the strip in Las Vegas, Nevada on Nov. 11. Credit: Mario Anzuoni / Reuters.